


The Other

by RiverTalesien



Series: On the Edge of Forever [5]
Category: The 100 (TV), clexa - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Anomaly (The 100 (TV)), Artificial Intelligence, Black Mirror - Freeform, Clexaweek21, Dark City - Freeform, F/F, Nightbloods, Out of bounds, Soulmates, The Flame - Freeform, Virtual Reality, back story sort of, cloning, on the edge of forever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 22:47:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29875170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiverTalesien/pseuds/RiverTalesien
Summary: A backstory for the Edge of Forever series and inspired for Clexaweek21: Out of Bounds.Commander Lexa Woods was killed in action twenty years ago...so how is she now alive and well...and under observation in a private research facility?Med student Clarke Griffin has signed on with Eligius-Woods Corp as a monitor for a very special, secret project with world-changing implications.Meeting her strange new patient, she knows her world will never be the same.
Relationships: Clarke Griffin/Lexa
Series: On the Edge of Forever [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1615417
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	The Other

**Author's Note:**

> For Clexaweek21: Out of Bounds
> 
> Unlike the other parts of the OTEOF series, this one will be multi-chapter as it connects with the bigger "anomaly" story. 
> 
> But that's just the plot or something. Really, I just wanted an excuse to write scenes where they meet, but can't touch. 
> 
> Not right away, at any rate. ;-)
> 
> Lots of pop culture references in this one, if you like that sort of thing.

“Alright. You know the drill. Do not touch the glass. Do not approach the glass. You pass her nothing but soft paper, no pencils, no pens. If she attempts to hand you anything do not accept it. Do you understand me?”

Clarke Griffin gave a withering glance at her friend and escort through the labyrinth of Eligius-Woods Research. 

“Yes, Dr. Chilton. I understand you perfectly.” 

Raven Reyes halted in front of a large metal door labeled NO ENTRY and turned to her companion.

“You got that? Oh, I didn’t think you’d get that one.” 

Smiling, Reyes took out a plastic ID card from her gray lab coat pocket and flashed it in front of a security scanner. A loud clicking noise followed as the door slowly opened and the two women entered.

As Raven turned to the officer at the entry’s security desk, Clarke had a moment to gawk. The room they just entered was located two miles underground, within one of the securest, privately owned science and technology research facilities in the world. 

And it was enormous.

Clarke looked out on what might be considered a small city, perfectly realized within dozens of concrete and transparent aluminum floors. Each level was open to the other: accessible by stair or an open elevator, save the one they were on. The only entrance/exit was where they arrived, from an independent tunnel connected to the surface just underneath the main (and mostly unassuming) headquarters of Eligius-Woods Corp. 

While Clarke could look out upon the other floors, neatly arranged in semi-circular fashion, she was aware (since Raven shared all) that no one could see inside this particular inner sanctum, where _the_ Becca Woods conducted her most important research, a life’s work, Raven said, it will change everything.

She transported briefly back to the phone call that brought her here, on leave from her third year at medical school. Raven had been jumpy with excitement, told her it was such a privilege just to be chosen and she’d learn so much about biomechanics and genetics her head would probably fall off. 

But Clarke had never requested an internship at Eligius-Woods, didn’t even know there was such an opportunity in such an elite company. Reyes, full-time genius since age two, had been working there since she was 15 and had barely spoken ten words about it. Suddenly she was being invited to learn…everything?

And what was the job?

“It’s a subject, a…human subject,” Raven had said. “You’ll mostly just do general monitoring, health checks, that sort of thing, Nothing out of your wheelhouse.” 

Clarke had felt a little alarm at what Raven might have been revealing. “A human being? Is this some weird experiment thing you shouldn’t be talking about?”

Raven got quiet then, as if chastised and chose her next words more carefully. 

“There’s a lot of potential here, Griffin. You’d be part of a very important team with the highest ethical standards. Nothing weird about it, once you understand it.” 

In spite her misgivings, Clarke’s curiosity got the better of her: a chance to see inside the inner workings of a reclusive genius _and_ a generous salary to boot? She could remember looking out at the gray flat of apartments blocks she called home, the far off sound of sirens and angry shouting, thinking, _Anything, anything is better than sitting around here all summer._

“You ready?”

Raven was holding out an ID badge with Clarke’s picture on the front and her DNA already encoded. 

Clarke broke from her reverie, took the card and gestured. “Lead the way.”

**

A tall bulkhead separated the security entrance from Becca Woods’ main lab: a circular room with transparent computer screens lit up around the perimeter and long steel tables covered in some equipment Clarke could recognize (portable EKG and ultrasound) and more that she could not. To one side was another, much smaller circular chamber, but it was concealed with another bulkhead. A single metallic sign etched over it read LOOM NO ENTRY. 

By far the most significant part of the room though was the center, a space surrounded by floor to ceiling transparent aluminum, with several security sliding containers. There were curtains on the inside and as Clarke approached, she saw several were open, revealing the interior: what looked like a highly sterilized…home. 

All the furniture was white or metallic, save the bed, which was large and covered in an over-sized hand-made quilt with tattoo-like patterns stitched together. There was a long desk with a blank screen sat in the middle. A rack of clothes, all the same black or gray, hung just behind. The other side of the room was occupied with exercise equipment. In another part was a black lacquer grand piano with a cushioned bench. Small piles of sheet music lined the cover. The windows, though, Clarke noticed, were covered in mathematical equations written in red marker. 

And in the center of the room, sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed, was _her._

_My new patient._

From the way she was seated, Clarke could not tell much; the woman had brownish hair that curled lazily around her head and just over her shoulders, one side terminating in a textured braid. Her posture was perfectly upright. It couldn’t have been comfortable. 

A voice, gentle, melodious and precise, slipped from a hidden loudspeaker.

“Tell your friend to stop staring, Reyes. You know I don’t like it.” 

Raven turned to Clarke, who _had_ been staring, and gave her a small shove. 

“Sorry Lex. This is Clarke, our new MA. Clarke? This is Lexa Woods.” 

Something crackled in Clarke’s memory, almost forcing out a gasp; she’d read enough about Becca Woods to know a little personal history: one child, a daughter, a decorated naval pilot killed in action…twenty years ago. 

Clarke took a step toward the glass as the woman rose, smoothly and without effort, and turned to face her, also stepping closer to the window.

Clarke had never seen eyes so green. 

“Hello, Clarke.”

**

After the awkward introduction, Raven showed Clarke their private break area and brought her a cup of something hot. 

Nursing the mug against her chest as they sat at a small round table overlooking the “promenade” of the research facility (as it was known), Clarke shook her head.

“How is she? _What_ is she? That crash was well documented, for like, years. Is she a granddaughter, maybe?”

Raven shook her head.

“Look. You signed the NDA. You have to know how serious this is. It’s not a joke. What we are working on in there is going to give hope where there never was before. It’s going to change everything about how we live and how society itself operates.” 

Clarke set down the mug, searching her friend’s face.

“Something like that isn’t just done in a not-so-secret science research facility, Raven. Not by one scientist who has, what? Brought her dead daughter back to life?”

Raven smiled. “She was never dead, Clarke.”

“The crash was fake? Or she survived? She looks pretty good for what, 45?” 

“46, actually. Hello Raven. This is Clarke?”

Clarke turned and stood at the sudden arrival of a tall, older woman with hair long going silver, dressed in a long, dark blue lab coat. 

“Dr. Woods?”

The woman held out her hand and Clarke took it, smiling in surprised relief.

“I’m so honored to meet you. Thank you so much for having me.”  


Becca Woods smiled generously then gestured for her to resume her seat, joining her and Raven at the table.

“Well. Has Raven got you up to speed?” 

Raven sat up straight. “We were just getting into some details.”

Becca waved her off. “I know. It’s a lot to take in. You’re right to question things, but I hope you understand that what is happening here, what has happened, while no accident, has developed some unforeseen consequences. Ones we are still grappling with.” 

Rising again, Becca gestured for the women to follow her through another bulkhead that led into a large office space. 

Clarke looked around and noticed the walls were covered in charts and framed degrees from various universities. The center of the room held a large mahogany desk, covered in notebooks, data pads and empty coffee mugs.

Becca took a seat at the desk while Clarke and Raven found seats before it. Raven’s quick glance at Clarke let her know just how rare this occasion was. Time to pay attention.

“This is the short form: almost 30 years ago I started work on two different projects for the military. One was to create a biological agent that would assist soldiers, astronauts and emergency responders in dangerous environments, particularly areas of high radiation. The other project revolved around the development of artificial intelligence.” 

Clarke nodded. She’d read about A.L.I.E. in high school. _The light that failed._

“I suppose you know how ALIE went, but her loss turned into a potent discovery. One that, while still incredibly complex to navigate, brought us where we are today: in fact, both of my discoveries are why we are here. Why Lexa is with us.”

Becca flexed her hands in her lap, looking down, looking almost unsure, or, perhaps, ashamed.

“The crash wasn’t fake. Lex was shot down after a 26-hour mission that had gone exactly as it was meant to. That was Lex. Clockwork at all times. Her body was recovered two days later and brought to St. Eligius, the closest facility at the time. She was clinging to life. We knew nothing then would save her. But I had to act. ALIE had failed but I still had the database. I cleared the AI completely and in her place…I put Lex.”

Clarke squinted in disbelief. “What?” 

At Becca’s sudden silence, Raven completed the story.

“She successfully uploaded Lexa’s consciousness to ALIE’s network matrix. A single soul caught in a digital cloud.” 

“Oh my god.”

Becca looked up again, almost contrite. 

“There was no way to know, really, what would happen. What is it when a human consciousness is translated into ones and zeroes?”

Raven tapped Clarke’s chair. “42 mainframes just to hold it all together.” 

Clarke’s eyes grew wider. “You…saved her? As a line of code?” 

Raven corrected her. “Millions of lines of code, Clarke. Millions. You have no idea what it took to preserve her, what it will take for others. We’re still working…” 

Looking up sharply, Becca’s glance silenced Raven. 

“We are still developing the system, though, obviously, Lexa is no longer part of it.” 

Clarke nodded. “That’s where I was headed next.” 

Becca rose. “Easier just to show you. Come on.”

**

Lexa was at the piano, playing something Clarke vaguely recognized. Debussy? Something French. She did not look up from the keyboard as the women re-entered the lab, crossing over to the hatch labeled LOOM NO ENTRY.

As she reached for her id badge and swiped it on the door scanner, Becca turned to the containment room’s only occupant.

“Why don’t you play something less gloomy, Lex?”

Still not looking up, Lexa answered. “It isn’t gloomy, mother. It’s profound.”

Rolling her eyes, Becca led the other two women inside the new chamber. Smiling in spite of herself, Clarke took one last glance back at the pianist, nearly startled to see she was staring at her, a look filled with something like sadness, or all the world’s dread. And something else: something she wasn’t about to try and give a name to. 

“Come in, Clarke, close the hatch please.”

Stepping fully inside, Clarke entered a space she reckoned was about the size of her old apartment. Transparent computer screens curved around the walls and off to one side was a tube-like construct filled with a pinkish fluid. 

“Fluorocarbon emulsion. Just like being back in the womb.” 

Clarke raised an eyebrow at her friend. “What does “loom” mean? 

Becca gestured to a screen, one hand gliding smooth across it, waking the system. On the screen were readouts measuring body fat, weight, bone density, brain fuction, heart rate and a few other things that went by too fast. 

“Essentially, it is an artificial womb. You can start with simple DNA, taken from a patient, like Lexa, and replicate it. The process takes months, but its much like spinning wool along a loom, weaving the old pattern back together again.” 

Clarke wondered if her jaw would ever stop hitting the floor.

“You _grew_ her a new body?” 

Becca nodded as Raven rocked excitedly on her toes.

“With some modifications, of course. A genetic stream can be altered a little, without serious effects.”

Clarke held up a hand.

“Wait. Wait. You saved her, her consciousness? You took DNA and grew another body, one that you’ve…enhanced? How? To what end?” 

Becca sighed and turned off the system.

“I know this is a lot to take in. We trust you now with a great deal, Clarke. How this started? I wanted my daughter back; it’s that simple. I found a way. And this way may change the course of life on this planet. For the better, I hope.” 

Clarke wanted to burst with questions and concerns, moral and ethical implications, societal implications; but what do you say to someone who may very well have conquered death itself? She held back, deciding learning more was a better approach, for now.

“It is a lot. But…what exactly is my role here again?”

Becca brought up another screen, a 3-d image of an adult human’s nervous system. 

“Lexa, as I mentioned, has had some…adjustments. Her biology is a little different now and we need to keep a close watch for any changes. You’ll monitor her regularly, normal check-ups, but it will have to be through the security screens. Her environment, as you can probably guess, is kept as sterile as possible. This body is only months old and might not be ready to adapt to the environmental changes and to other people and all we bring to the table. It’s a unique opportunity, really. One Lexa is very generous about. To a point.”

“To a point?”

Becca shrugged. “She isn’t a prisoner, but its not like we can just let her out. Not yet, anyway.” 

Clarke felt the chill of this reveal up and down her spine as they exited the chamber and Becca encouraged Clarke to spend some time getting to know Lex. 

Without stopping to talk to her daughter, Becca turned back to her office while Raven occupied herself at another workstation. 

“Looks like it’s just us.” 

Lexa sat up from the piano bench, closing the lid and walked slowly toward the glass. Clarke noticed she was dressed in dark-colored sweats, slightly baggy but almost refined-looking on her slight frame. Her arms grasped behind her, Lexa’s demeanor was faintly aristocratic…or was that robotic? 

Clarke could not deny that there was a sensual quality underneath that felt deeply compelling. She stood closer to the glass, almost wanting to reach out. Lexa’s face tilted to one side a little, as if she was taking Clarke’s measure. Her eyes glinted in the harsh light of the room, but remained soft.

“Yes. Just us.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, let me know what you think or hmu on Tumblr @rivertalesien. Thanks for reading!


End file.
